Device for opening or closing trolley-car doors.



' No.. 722,422. PATBNTBD MAR.10, 1903.

W'. H. 000K.

DEVICE yPOE OPENING 0R CLOSING TROLLEY OAR DOORS.

IPPLwATIoNA FILED DB0. 9, 1902. No MODEL.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM HENRY COOK, OF NEVARK, DELAWARE.

DEVICE FOR OPENING OR CLOSING TROLLEY-CAR DOORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 722,422, dated March 10, 1903. Application filed December 9, 1902. Serial No. 134,562. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HENRY CooK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Newcastle and State of Delaware, have invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Devices for Opening and Closing Trolley-Oar Doors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to automatic devices for opening and closing doors, whereby the opening or closing of the door is effected by a system of levers operated by foot-power.

The invention is particularly adapted for use in connection with sliding doors, and in the present case is illustrated as applied to the doors of a car; but it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to cars only.

The invention will be fully described hereinafter, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is an end elevation, partly in section, of a street-car, showing my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of a portion of a street-car.

In the present case I have illustrated two sliding doors, with means for operating them simultaneously; but it is to be understood that my invention is adapted to work in connection with'one door only.

Referring now to the drawings, there are two sliding doors A, supported by rollers ot, attached to their upper ends, which rollers run upon a track b.

The floor of the car is indicated by i, and an opening is cut in said floor, preferably near the dash C, to receive a rocking plate y, which is provided with pivots @supported in suitable bearings in the licor'.

Suspended from the under side of the caroor are a plurality of hangers or brackets m, which form bearings for a horizontallyextending rock-shaft f, and near one endthis shaft is provided with a laterally-extending arm 7o, rigidly connected thereto,and the outer end of the arm is connected by a link o to the rocking plate y on one side ofits pivot, so that when the plate y is rocked bypressure applied to it on either side of its pivot the shaft f will also be rocked. The shaft fis also provided with two arms L, rigidly connected to it, and these arms extend in opposite directions from the shaftf and may be integral or separate. The arms L are preferably arranged vertically and will oscillate when the shaftf is rocked.

d d are two levers pivoted,A respectively, to a fixed part of the car at or adjacent to the floor thereof, and the lower short arms of the levers are connected, respectively, by linksp to the respective arms L. The long arms of the levers d are respectively connected at their upper ends to the edges of the respective doors A by links e.

Vhen the doors A A are closed, the rocking plate y and the lever and link connections between it and lthe doors will occupy the positions shown by full lines in Fig. l. If pressure be applied to the plate y,as by a person stepping on it on that side ot' its pivot to which the link o is connected, the plate will rock or tilt, and thereby rock the shaft f and oscillate the arms L, and the levers d will be operated to open the doors A. The positions ofthe several parts when the doors are open are indicated by dotted lines in Fig. l. To close the doors, it is only necessary to apply pressure to the plate y on the other side of its pivot. This arrangement of devices will not interfere with opening and closing the doors by hand, but, on the contrary, will transmit movement from one door to the other, so that if one door is moved to open or close it the lever and link connections will transmit movement to the other door and open or close it, as the case may be, to a corresponding eX- tent.

If only one door is to be operated, one each of the levers d, arms L, and linksp and e will be dispensed with.

This invention when applied to a car will enable the conductor to open and close the doors by foot-pressure on the plate y Without having to move from his position at the rear end of the car, and the devices will not interfere with opening the door by hand when desired.

Without limiting myself to the precise details of construction illustrated and described, I claim- A V l. The combination with a sliding door, of a rocking plate pivotally supported near the door, a rock-shaft supported below the plate and having a laterally-extending arm, alink IOO connected at one end to said arm and at its other end to said plate on one side of its pivot, an arm L rigidly connected to said shaft and a pivoted lever connected at one end to the door and at the other end to the arm L, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with a slidingdoor and a floor below it, of a rocking plate pivotally supported in an opening'in the floor, a rockshaft supported in bearings below the floor and having. a laterally-extending arm, a link connected at one end to said arm and at its other end to the plate on one side of its pivot, another arm rigidly secured to the rock-shaft and extending in a vertical direction therefrom, a pivoted lever, a link connecting the lower end of the lever to the vertically-extending arm, and a link connecting the upper end of the lever to the door, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with two sliding doors and a floor below them, of a rocking plate pivotally supported in an opening in the oor, a rock-shaft jonrnaled in bearings below the Hoor and having a laterally-extending arm, a link connecting said arm to the' In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM HENRY COOK.

Witnesses:

EDWARD MCPIKE, EDWARD MCPIKE, J r. 

